Photographic composing apparatus



p 22, 1953 R. HIGONNET ETAL PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSING APPARATUS 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 16, 1950 Sept. 22, 1953 R. HIGONNET ETALPHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 16, 1950.

Sept. 22, 1953 Filed March 16, 1950 R. HIGONNET ET AL PHOTOGRAPHICCOMPOSING APPARATUS 5 Shgets-Sheet 3 Sept. 22, 1953 R. HIGONNET ET ALPHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-$heet 4 Filed March 16, 1950Badman/.5

q 1953 R. HIGONNET ET AL PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPOSING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet5 Filegl March 16, 1950 I *1 I *1 1 WWW Patented Sept. 22, 1953 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE tion of Delaware Application March 16, 1950, SerialNo. 150,024 In France March 17, 1949 7 Claims. i 1 l.

present invention relates to photographic composing apparatus andparticularly to a means for actuating the character illuminating deviceaccording to the character selected for projection.

A feature of the invention described herein is a continuously movablecharacter carrier upon which tneeharaeters are disposed in such a manherthat they are consecutively moved through a pfojection position. When acharacter selected for projection is thus moved into the projectionposition; an illuminating device is actuated to project" the image ofthe character upon a sensitiad material. The invention relates to theIi'l ns for actiiating the illuminating device at a precise instant toposition the projected charac image correctly upon the sensitizedmaterial.

Heretorore; numerous methods for accmp1ishmg this result have beenproposed. For instance, a series of stationary electrical contacts, onefor each character, may be arranged in a circle. A rotatable charactercarrier in the form of a matrix disk or drum may be provided; and awiper may be arranged to sweep the contacts, the wiper being rigidlyfastened to the character carrier. A source or" potential may then beprovided to the particular contact which is swept by the wiper at theinstant that the selected character is in the projection position. Theilluminating device may be energized through a circuit which is closedby the contact and Wiper.

There are several refinements of this basic device, including decodingdrums in place of rotary contacts, as described in our copending application Serial No. 770,320 filed August 23, 1947, and these variants may beso arranged as to become operative either when a circuit is closed oropened through the decoding device.

A further refinement is disclosed in the abovementioned application,whereby a form of the contact device just described is used to provide acoarse selection of the characters, and additional means are mounted onthe character carrier to provide the precision adjustment in the timingof the projection. The precision means there employed comprise slitswhich are precisely positioned with respect to the characters-,-andwhich admit to a photoelectric cell a beam of light which impingesconstantly upon the other side of the character carrier. In such anarrangement a projection does not occur until the coars control circuitcorresponding to the selected character is operative simultaneously withthe circuit of the photoelectric cell; 7

An object of the invention is to provide in":- provenients in the meansfor timing the projection of characters inov'ing continuously throughthe projection position,

A further object is to provide means for changing fonts of projectedcharacters rapidly which involves the use of a photoelectric signaloperative upon the same photoelectric cell which is used for timing theprojection of selected chemoters.

A further objec'tof the invention is to provide means for timing theselection of projected char" acters which are readily adapted to use inphoto'i graphic composing apparatus producing justified lines of writtenmatter.

With these objects in view, a principal feature of the present inventioncomprises means for tim ing the projection of selected characters by theuse of a photoelectric cell; a code-controlled beam of light and codedareas of opaque material mounted on the character carrier.

Other features of the present invention com-=- prise the features ofconstruction hereinafter to be described and claimed.

In the drawings; Fig. 1 is a Schematic representation of the apparatusassociated with the illumination of the photoelectric cell; Fig; 2 is anelevation of the preferred form of character carrie'rj Fig. 3 is adiagrammatic representation of a complete photographic composing machinein corporating the invention; Fig. 4 is a schematic representation ofalternative apparatus for per-'- forming the same general function asthe apps: ratus in Fig. 1, and Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic representationof the optical coding elements;

Referring to Fig. L a lamp 2 with an elongated filament is provided, andis continuously illumi nated. A cylindrical condenser lens 4 is placedin position to collect a portion of the light and to cause it to beconverged in a line parallel to its own axis. A shutter frame 6, whichis made of .an opaque material containing a thin slit 8, is

placed so that the slit lies in substantial coinci dence with theaforesaid line. Mounted upon the shutter frame are seven shutters H), H,l2, I3, I 4, I5 and I6, each attached to a spring I! which is fixed atone end to the shutter frame. Each shutter I0 is also fixed to a rod l8which is con nected at one end to the movable core of a magnet l9. Whenthe magnet is energized the corre= sponding shutter moves to a positionin which it covers a segmentof the slit 8. The slit 8 is slight lylonger than the combined widths of the shutters; therefore, even if allof the magnets H? were to be simultaneously energized a portion of theslit 8 at the lower end would remain uncovered.

Th magnets I9 provide the means for con trolling the light beam emergingfrom the slit 8 according to the identity of the character selected forprojection. The possible number of different controls be pieced upon thebeam is ascertained in accordance with conventional theory, and is equalto the number 2, raised to a power equal to the number of shutters. Thenumber of shutters here employed has been found to produce sufiicientcombinations. The method of energizing th magnets I8 is hereinafter morefully described.

Adjacent to the shutter-frame 6 is a converging lens 2|] which invertsand collects the codecontrolled light beam and again causes it to beconverged in a fixed line. The beam impinges upon an opaque plate 2|containing an alignment slit 22 in substantial coincidence with thisline. For clarity, the plate 2| is omitted from Fig. 1, but is shown inFig. 2. A continuously rotating character carrier 23, in the form of amatrix disk, is mounted on a fixed axis so that one surface of the diskis as close as practicable to the plate 21. The disk is constructed of atransparent or translucent material, upon the above-mentioned surface ofwhich are disposed areas of opaque material. It is apparent that someportion of the light beam impinging upon the disk through the slit 22will always be transmitted through the disk except when the impingingportions of the beam impinge only upon opaque material. At such timesthe beam is interrupted by the disk. We provide a photoelectric cell 24in position to receive any light which is transmitted through the disk,and to initiate an exposure of a character when the beam is interrupted.

The physical relation between the above-mentioned areas of opaquematerial is fixed with respect to a ring of translucent characters 34and 35, which are disposed upon an opaque background. For convenience,these characters are shown in black in Fig. 2. This relationship,cooperating with the means for controlling the light beam, provides themeans for defining the instant when a flash is to occur. A fixedilluminating device 26 is placed opposite a projection position in sucha manner that its energization will cause the projected character imagesto be focused by a focusing lens 28 upon a sensitized surface 30. Thissurface is preferably a film wound over rollers 32 which turn axiallyfor line spaces, and which move in the axial direction for spacingbetween successive characters in a particular line. A film carriagemeeting this description is disclosed in our above-mentioned applicationSerial No. 770,320.

A more detailed view of the disk 23 is shown in Fig. 2. As abovementioned, the characters are arranged in a circle, and comprise twofonts, each font being arranged in a half-circle. For example, it isassumed herein that the left-hand font 34 comprises a roman font, andthat the right-hand font 35 comprises a bold-face font. As shown, theorder of succession of the characters in either direction around thedisk is the same for each font. For reasons which will hereinafterbecome more evident, this arrangement produces an economy of equipment,while still providing for interchangeability of the fonts. Thecharacters are, as mentioned, translucent upon a wide opaque ring 36,although they are represented for convenience as black on a translucentring in Fig. 2.

Outside of this opaque ring there is a translucent ring 31 whichcontains coded areas partly comprised of opaque material. Each codedarea is disposed with its leading edge (assuming motion in the directionof the arrow) on a radius line at a fixed angle with respect to a radiusline passing through the left edge of a particular character on thedisk. This angle is shown as zero degrees, but it may be any other fixedangle which is desired. Each coded area contains seven sub-areas H), H,l2, l3, l4, l5and l6, sub-area l0 being nearest the center of the disk.The sub-areas are of equal length, and are either opaque or translucentaccording to the code designation of the particular character with whichthe code area is associated. Each sub-area, if made opaque, prevents thelight admitted by the particular shutter [0, ll, l2, l3, l4, l5, l6, ofwhich its own number is the prime, from passing through the disk 23.

It is to be noted that it is not necessary to cause the radius anglessubtended between successive characters or coded areas to be exactlyequal. As will be evident from the description to follow, requisiteprecision of projection is achieved simply by causing the anglesubtended between each character and its corresponding coded area to beuniform in every case.

Therefore, the width of the translucent ring 31 is such that the entirelength of the light beam passing through the shutters I0, etc., may alsobe transmitted through this ring, but the portion of the beam whichemerges below the shutters in the slit 8 will not pass through it. Thelast-mentioned portion of the beam is caused to impinge upon an opaquering 38 which is outside of the translucent ring 31. This opaque ringcontains two translucent half-circle strips, each subtending the sameradial angle as the set of coded areas representing a font.Corresponding to the roman font 34 there is a translucent strip 39 atone radius distance, and corresponding to the bold-face font 35 there isa similar translucent strip 40 at a different radius distance.

For convenience, a line L is defined as the line which passes throughone end of each of the fonts and also through the center of the disk asshown in Fig. 2. A line M is defined as the line which passes throughthe other end of each font and the center of the disk. Subtended betweenthese lines are angles A, hereinafter called the dead angles.

A cycle of the disk 23 is defined as the period of one revolution of thedisk. This cycle is divided into two half-cycles. Assuming that the diskrotates continuously in a clockwise direction, as shown by the arrow inFig. 2, the "roman half-cycle" designates the period measured from thepassage of the line L through the projection position, to the succeedingpassage of the line L through the projection position, during whichperiod the disk passes through a dead-angle A and then the entire fontof roman type characters passes through the projection position.Similarly, the bold-face half-cycle designates the remaining half of theperiod of the disk 23.

The outer opaque ring 38 contains two translucent segments 42 within thedead angles A, as shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2. a magnet 44 is provided with a movable core,at the end of which is fastened an opaque shutter 43. When the magnet 44is not energized the shutter is in position to prevent light frompassing through the strip 39 and impinging upon the photoelectric cell24; when the magnet is energized the shutter 46 prevents light passingthrough the strip 40 from impinging upon the photoelectric cell.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be observed that the right edge of thealignment slit 22 is coincident with a radius line of the disk 23. Bythis con- 5. stfuction the irl's'taifit at which given acter isprojected is substantially fixed as their-1* stan-t at which the leadingedge of the corresponding coded area reaches the right edge of the slit;At this instant the character is exactly 150 siti'oned in the projectionpositioti in front of the lens 28 AS the character a proaches thefxi-ojctibrl sitioir the light transmitted to the photoelectric cell 24is progressively reduced. Evehm'sny. it reaches a low threshold valuewhich causes the photoelectric cell 24 to actuate the illuminatiri-gdevice 28.

Since the construction er'hplo'yed heces's'itat'es the'progress'i-vereductionor the initted light toward a threshold value the precisikihwith which the character positi on isfi ii'ed at the instant ofprojection is increased by causing the rate of change of transmittedlight to be a maximm as it passes through the" threshold Value.- Thisisachieved by the construction described above since the leading edgesor the opaque sub: areas are caused to' reach the right edge" of theslit 22 simultar'ieously.-

There are two limitatioiis upon the order of arrangement or thecharacters and coded areas around the disk. The limitation arises byvirtue of the fact that or a typical character the coded areas entirelyinterruht the correspohding code c'ontrolled b'caih several times duringeach one of the half-cycles. For instance, assume that it is desired toproject the letter 'Qfi" A's showii in Fig. 2, the coded area. for thischaracter is opaque ofily ifi sub-areas H" and I6". Aecord= ingl'y, theshutters IO, l2, [3, l4 and I5" must'he closed to interrupt the light tothe photoelectriccell ih combination with this coded area. sot, observethat these shutters are closed the light to the-photoelectric cell isalso interrupted by the coded areas of the letters 0 and A.

To prevent the mistaken projection of such additiohal characters thecharactersare arranged so thatthe coded area of the selectedcharacterwill be the to ihter'rupt the light beam. The e1ectronic= circuitwhichenergizes the illuminat ing device 26 is" constructed so that-- it isactuated by the photoelectric cell or'il-y at the first iristaritofjigh't interruption.

If, then; it is" desired to project the letter "011 only" the shutters10", i2, [-3', and I5 areclos'ed'. Also, the letter O is arranged tofollow the letter Q and to precede the lette'r 'A." As showh in Fig. 2the first light interruption will occur iii this case when the letter Ois in ro; ,iectiori position, and this will be theomy li'ght'interruption on which a projection will occur.

It follows from the above that the possibility of several successivelight interruptions necessi tates" the arrangement of the coded areas onthe disk 23 so that the number of opaque suh are'as per coded areaincreases or remains the same for successive Characters. That is, allcommnations of a sihgle opaque sub-area are arranged first; then, allcombifiations of two opaque sub= areas; then, all combinations of threeo'fiadue sub' ai'eas, and so forth, according to the directiori ofrotation of the disk 23; It, then, the minimum combination of theshutters Ill, etc;- which will interrupt the light in combiriatio'n'with the coded areas of any selected character is closed, it is assuredthat the first light in terruption will occur when that character is theprojection position.

It is to be noted that the above limitation does not require anyparticular order of arrar'i'ge a of the f'i'if sub-areas.

the si s or projected characters.

6* meat or cause areas have the same humber of ohagiie sumareas. Foresazrisie, as shownifi his} 2 the coded areas of the letters Q M eachhave two opaque sub=areas.- These two coded areas, together with theirassociatedchar" asters,- may be interchanged without causifig erroneousprojections.

As to the second liir'iitatioii oh the order of arrangement, for hsmoredirectly associated with the re nisnts of justification we i-tconveniefit to use four of the seven sub"- areas in each coded area todesignate the width of the selected character. These are sub-areas HI";l l,- 12 arid i3; of width measureriir'eht is selected that the widestcharacters 0 "t exceed sixteen uhits in width.- For each character itswidthis written iii the form or a binary number. The above-'iiiehtiohedsum areas are tl'l'i-i made opaque or (near accordin to whether aparticular di column or this number, to which it is assig'" dis opaqueor clear. The zero power of two cohiih fis correshonds to the sub ar'aIII" the first power or two columns to the sub rea H', andso on, foreach H In the biliary system only the digits "1 ar'id zero are possible.If the digit is 1f the corresponding sub-area is clear if it is o thecorresponding" sub' area is ofiaqu Thus, for example, as Fig. 2, thewidth of the letter M is seen to be 15 units. If there are more than onecharacter or the same width, the sub-areas l4,; l5 and K6 aredifferefitly coded to distirigui'sh between the characters. 7

As iii Fig: 2 the d sitioh r a par-- ticular character upon the dis isdependent upon two' factors: first, as mentioned above, the leftedg'e ofthe character, wheh it passes through the projection position, is on thesame radius line as the Iead'ifia' edge of its corresponding codedarea-j second, the Bottom edge oi the character falls on a common circlewith the other charac= tees. We locate the centralaxis of the lens" 28so that the point of intersection of this radius lihe and common circleis exactly in the axis of the less at the" precise instant that thecharacter reaches the" projection position.

The resultant use of only the first quadrant of the F as circle for proection relates to changes By this rheans we may replace the lens 28 witha lens or d ifierem recal length, but of common optical to change thetype sizes of two successive characters on the same line, withoutcausing the bottom edge of the larger projected ch cter' to fall beiowthat of the smaller; nor

is the left edge of the larger character caused to fall further to theleft than it would have fallenhad the character seen projected withsmaller size. The inherent advantage in this relates tothe use ofmechanism for spacir'i'g the sensitized surface 30'. The movement ofthis mechanism normally follows the projection of acharacter andcorresponds to its width. Since the left: edge of each character isfixed; regardless of size, this movement is not partly ofiset bychanging the lens 28 between two successive projections.

The foregoing description of the optical sys tem may be brieflysummarized by reference to Fi'gi 5 as follows; The slit 8 may beconsidered as an object, uniformly illuminated by means of the lens 4which may beconsidered in the nature of a condenser lens. The slit 8 isconsidered as divided into sections so, lOa, Ha; l2d,- l3a, Ma,

I511 and l6a. Each of these sections, excepting 8a, is adapted to becovered by a shutter; for instance, the section Illa is covered by theshutter ID, as shown in Fig. 1, and likewise for the other" sections Hathrough [6a.

. The lens 20 is a projection lens which makes an image of the slit 8 onthe character carrier 23. The portion of the image representing thesections Illa through I 6a of the slit impinges upon the ring 31 and theportion representing the section 8a impinges upon the ring 38. The imageis considered as divided into sections 81), [b, llb, I211, I321, I41),I51; and i6b. Each of these sections corresponds with the equal-numberedsection of the object." sections b to l'6b of the image may be darkenedby closing the shutter of the corresponding section of the object.

Such portions of the light as form the image on a translucent ortransparent portion of the disk 23 are admitted through the disk to thephotoelectric cell 24.

Each coded area in the ring 31 is divided into sub-areas correspondingto the image sections l0b to I6b, and each sub-area, if opaque, blocks;

an equal-numbered section of the image 10b to The section 8a of theobject is continuously imaged upon the ring 38 of the disk. Dependingupon whether or not its magnet is energized. the shutter 46 blocks thelight admitted through either of the strips 39 or 40.

Therefore, it wil be seen that it is possible to reduce the illuminationof the photoelectric cell to zero at some instant of time by acombination of (a) selective blocking of sections of the object, (b)selective blocking of illuminated sections of the image, and (c)positioning of the shutter 46 to block the light admitted through At theinstant at which light is completely blocked from the photoelectriccellthe illuminating device 26 is energized to.

the strip 39 or 40.

project the selected character onto the sensitized material.

Alternatively, the shutter 46 may be moved to the section 8a of the slitand used to block the.

upper or lower portion of the section 8a of the "object itself. ViewingFig. 1 in this form, it is evident that the third requirement forreducing the illumination of the photoelectric cell to zero, namely themovement of the shutter 46 to block the light admitted through the strip39 or 40, may be seen merely as a restatement of the first tworequirements.

Having thus described the principal features register 54. As the key ofa selected character is depressed the corresponding permutation barcompletes electrical circuits which transmit to the justifierinformation relating to the width of the character and to the registerinformation relating to both the identity and to the width of thecharacter. A justifier of the type described in our application SerialNo. 70,472, filed January 12, 1949, is suitable for this purpose. Aregister of the type described in our application And further, any ofthe:-

8. Serial No. 770,320, filed August 2.3, 1947, may also be used.

The permutation bars are provided with "writing" means, that is, meansfor actuating pins or other information storage devices in the register,in a particular combination uniquely describing each of the selectedcharacters in the form of a code. In the form of embodiment here shownit is assumed that each stored character is represented in the registerby a character storage position containing a combination of eight ofsuch storage devices. seven devoted to character designation, and one tofont designation. The register is normally provided with means forstoring a complete line of characters at a time, during what we shallrefer to as a storage cycle." After the storage cycle there is a"transcription cycle, during which the characters stored in the registerare successively projected as hereinafter described.

It is to be noted that the operator not only selects each character butalso the font in which the character is to be projected. In theembodiment shown, it is assumed that the storage device which is devotedto font designation is caused to be actuated when the character is to bein bold-face, and not actuated when the character is to be in romantype.

The register 54, in addition to its means for storing information asabove described, is provided with a "reading unit 56. During thetranscription cycle the reading unit is provided with means for indexingfrom one character storage position to the next upon the application ofan electrical potential to a wire 56. The reading unit is also adaptedto connect any combination of a group of projection control wires 66 toa supply lead 62 which is supplied with a direct current potential. Eachof the wires 60 corresponds to one of the seven storage devices in acharacter storage position which are devoted to character designation.The combination of the wires 66 connected to the supply lead 62corresponds with the combination of storage devices which is actuated inthe particular character storage position in which the reading unitfinds itself at any particular time.

The eighth storage device which is devoted to the font designation isnot used with one of the wires 60, but is used to connect a wire 64 withthe supply lead 62 when the reading unit finds this storage device inthe actuated condition.

Thus, it is evident that upon the connection of the wire 58 with thesupply lead 62 the reading unit 56 moves to the next character storageposition in the register and thereupon energizes the particularcombination of the wires 60 designating the character stored in the newposition of the reading unit 56, and also energizes the wire 64 if thecharacter is to be projected in boldface.

During the storage cycle, as mentioned above, the 'ustifier 52 receivesinformation relating to the character widths from the permutation bars.During the transcription cycle the justifier receives information fromthe reading unit 56 corresponding to the characters which are being readto the wires 60. From the previous description it is evident that thejustifier is actuated by the four wires 60 which energize the magnets l9associated with the width of the characters. The corresponding shuttersof these magnets are [0, l I, I2 and I3. This information enables thejustiiier to provide for the space needed. for the particular characterwhich is being'read, and

9 also takes into account the justification requirements for theparticular line, these requirements having been pro-computed by thejustifier during the storage cycle. The spacing control is transmittedover a spacing control cable 66 to a carriage 68, adapted to causevariable axial displacement of the rollers 32. Such circuits are notcomplete however, except through a wire 7.0, which must in turn beconnected to' a source of electrical potential as hereinafter described.

It is evident that, for the transcription of any given character fromthe register 54 to the sensitized surface 30', the-projection of thecharacter and the spacing .of the carriage .68 must take placesuccessively. As mentioned above, in this embodiment the projectionoccurs first.

To producethe required timing of character projections andcarriageispacing, a continuously rotating shaft 12, driven'by a pulleyTe, is pro vided. The disk123 is secured to the shaft 12 and alsorotates continuously. Also secured to the shaft 12 is a font controlescapement 7B. This escapement is adapted to connect the shaft 12 with a-second shaft 18; The escapement is so constructed that when the circuitbetween the wires 62 and 64: either closed- .or' opened it allows theshaft TB t'o stop while the shaft 12 rotates through a full 180 degrees,at which time it againreconnectsthe shafts.

Secured to thekshaft 1 8 are timing cams 80, 82 and 34. The cam: 8:0 isprovided with a pair of contacts which connect the wire .58 withthesupply lead. 62, and is=thusassociated with the indexing of thereading;unit 55" from one character storage position lnithe register to-thenext. The cam 82- is provided: with-a Similarpair of contacts whichconnect the" common leads of the shutter magnets" i9nwit=h the supplylead 62, and is thus associated with the projection control wires 60 incausing the operation of the shutters Ill, etc. The cam :84 is providedwith contacts to connect the Wire l 'il with the supply lead 62', and isassociatedxwith the spacing control' cable 66 in causing.thefiva'riable' movement of the carriage '68.

' Each of the cams 82" and 8:4gcloses its contacts for the duration ofone-half." of a revolution of the shaft'18; however, thecontacts of thecam 82 are closed duringon'e half and those-of the cam 84 during theother halfof the revolu tion. The cam 80 closes-= its contacts onlywhile:

the shaft 18 turns through an angle approximately equal tothe dead-angleA, shown in Fig.

2, and the instantor closure of these contacts'is the same as theinstantor closure of the con-* tacts of the cam-82.-

The disk 23- an'dthe cams 80, 32 and 84 are secured to the shafts 'lzarid 'I'B'infiXed relation to the font control-escapement 16. Thus, whenthe lin'eL of the disk is "in the projection :position' A the readingunit :S'Eofithe register is indexed tothe next character storage:position through the closure of the contactsof "theoam 1.8! Land"arrives in that position -well beforethe disk ha's completed itsrotation through the dead-angle A.

Assume first that the: character stored in' the As the 1 disk; continuesto. rotate :through athes-dead-angle 10 new position of the register isto be projected in roman type. On this assumption the wire 64 will notbecome connected with the supply lead 62; hence, the connection of theshafts 72 and 16 will not be disturbed.

Before the disk 23 has rotated through the dead-angle A the projectioncontrol wires 60 are energized according to the character in the newposition. The shutters [0 etc. are actuated accordingly since thecontacts of the cam 82 are closed. Since, by assumption, this is theroman half-cycle the characters of the roman font 34 pass successivelythrough the projection position for the remaining part of the firstdegrees of rotation of the disk 23. As previously described, thecharacter which is in the projection position at the instant that thephotoelectric cell 22 receives no light through the disk 23 is projectedby the illuminating device 26, this device being energized by anelectronic supply circuit 86, for which the photoelectric cell 24 servesas a trigger.

During the succeeding, or bold-face half-cycle, it will be noted thatthe strip 40 will not be covered by the shutter 46; hence, at no timeduring this half cycle will the light beam be interrupted completely.Since the circuit of the cam 82 is Open, the shutters In return to theirunactuated positions during this half-cycle. Since the circuit of thecam 84" is closed, the carriage 66 moves the sensitized surface 30 underthe control of the justifier, as described above. At the end of thishalf-cycle the spacing control circuit also opens.

Thus, within one complete cycle of the disk 23, both the projection andspacing of a stored character are produced.

Assume next that the character stored in the next position of theregister is to be projectedin bold-face. On this assumption, after thereading unit 56 reaches the next position, a connection is producedbetween the wire 64 and the supply lead 62. The font control escapement16, which is immediately energized through this connection, disengagesthe shaft 18 from the shaft 12, thereby preventing the further rotationof the cams B0, 82 and 84; The disk 23 then rotates through exactly 180degrees, at the end of which time the escapement reconnects the shaftsl8 and 12.

Simultaneously with the energization of the font control escapement, themagnet 44 is energized. This causes the shutter 46 to move to a positionin which itcovers the strip 4flon the disk. Thus, duringthe period inwhich the cams are motionless, which includes the remainder of the romanhalf-cycle, the light is never completely excluded from thephotoelectric cell 24 because the strip 39 is not covered, and noprojection can occur.

Upon the completion of the 180 degree turn of the disk 23, theescapement 76 reconnects the shaft 12 and the shaft 78; It is evidentthat this reconnection takes place within the deadangle A of thebold-face half-cycle, and that since the shutter now covers the strip 40on the disk, the projection will be produced in the bold-facehalf-cycle. I

Upon the completion of the bold-face half-cycle the disk 23 willhavemovcd through 360 de grees since the reading unit 56 moved into theparticular character storage position, and the cams will have movedthrough only 180 degrees. Since the cams govern the timing of thereading unit steps, these cams must rotatethrough '11 an additional 180degrees before the reading unit can be moved to the next characterstorage position. During this remaining half-cycle the carriage 68 isactuated through the contacts of its cam 84 which are then closed.

Upon the completion of this period, which is a roman half-cycle, thereading unit is again indexed to a new position by the closure of thecontacts of the cam 80 In moving from the old position it necessarilyopens the connection between the wire 64 and the supply lead 62. Aspreviously explained, this results in an actua tion of the font controlescapement l6 and causes the cams to stop while the disk 23 rotatesthrough 180 degrees. Since this occurs during a bold-face half-cycle ofthe disk 23, and since the magnet 44 is de-energized at the same instantthat the font control escapement is actuated, the strip 40 is notcovered and a projection cannot occur. At the completion of thishalf-cycle the machine is prepared to project the next character.

An alternative form of the present invention is shown in Fig. 4. In thisembodiment the coded areas corresponding to only one font are mountedaround the entire circumference of a drum I00. The characters are notmounted in this drum, but on a separate disk I02. This disk, aside fromthe absence of the coded areas, is substantially identical with that ofFig. 2. A shaft I04 corresponds to the shaft I2 shown in Fig. 3. Thegear ratio between the shaft I04 and a shaft I bearing the drum I00permits the drum to rotate at twice the speed of the disk. Theconnection between the disk I02 and the drum I00 is such that the codedareas pass the alignment slit in the opaque plate 2| in the same orderas in the embodiment of Fig. 1. An advantage inherent in this type ofarrangement is that, by increasing the diameter of the drum I00, thelineal speed of the code strips is increased. This in turn increases theprecision of flash timing.

A variation of the drum embodiment would be to mount the charactersdirectly on the drum I00 and to mount the illuminating device 26 insideof the drum. This arrangement takes advantage of the drum constructionwhile at the same time obviating the need for gears or analogouslinkages.

In any of the embodiments above discussed certain other variations inparticular elements of the invention may be employed. For instance, inplace of using a single elongated coded area on the character carrierwith a plurality of contiguous sub-areas, as assumed throughout theabove discussion, a plurality of separate beams of light may be used. Inthat event neither the shutters I0, etc., nor the sub-areas I0, etc. ofthe coded areas need be contiguous. An advantage arising from thevariation is that it eliminates an element of uncertainty arising fromdiffraction of light around the edges of the shutters I0, as well asfrom the focusing of the lens 20, and causing portions of thecodecontrolled beam to overlap upon adjacent subareas.

Again, we may replace the shutters I0, etc., shown in Fig. 1, with othermeans for eifectuating the desired control of the light beam. One suchmeans is an opaque strip of material with punches representing thedesired code combinations. This opaque strip may simply be indexedacross the slit 0 from one set of punches to the next, in place of usingthe circuit of Fig. 3 to energize the shutter magnets IS. The productionof such punched strips or tapes by means of apparatus controlled by themachine operator has been systematically dealt with in the calculatingmachine and related arts.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. In photographic type composing apparatus, the combination of a rigidcharacter carrier, continuously rotatable in one direction and bearingthe characters to be photographed and corre-- sponding code areas, eachcode area comprising a representative combination of transparent andopaque sub-areas and having an edge in precise spatial relation to apoint in a corresponding character, a fixed illuminated object, meansfor focusing on the character carrier a stationary image of said objectcorresponding substantially in size and shape to a code area and havingan edge in position to become coincident with said edges of each of thecode areas successively, means for selectively blocking sections of theobject corresponding to the combination of sub-areas representing asingle selected character, a single photo electric device to receivelight passing through the transparent sub-areas, and projection meansactuated by the photoelectric device when said light is reducedsubstantially to zero by reason of said edges of the selected code areaand image reaching coincidence, to project the code-selected characteron to a sensitized surface.

2. In photographic type composing apparatus, the combination of a rigidcharacter carrier, continuously rotatable in one direction and bearingcharacters of variable width to be photographed and corresponding codeareas, each code area comprising a representative combination oftransparent and opaque sub-areas and having an edge in precise spatialrelation to a point in a corresponding character, a fixed illuminatedobject, means for focusing on the character carrier a stationary imageof said object corresponding substantially in size and shape to a codearea and having an edge in position to become coincident with said edgesof each of the code areas successively, means for selectively blockingsections of the object corresponding to the combination ofsub-areas'representing a single selected character, a singlephotoelectric device to receive light passing through the transparentsubareas, a support for a sensitized surface, means actuated by thephotoelectric device when said light is reduced substantially to zero byreason of said edges of the selected code area and image reachingcoincidence, to project the code-selected character on to the sensitizedsurface, and means for moving the support by a distance corresponding tothe width of the selected character.

3. In photographic type composing apparatus, the combination of aregister for storing coded information corresponding to selectedcharacters in a line of written matter and the widths of saidcharacters, a rigid character carrier, continuously rotatable in onedirection and bearing characters of variable width to be photographedand corresponding code areas, each code area comprising a combination oftransparent and opaque sub-areas representing the character and thewidth of said character, a fixed illuminated obJect, means for focusingon the character carrier a stationary image of said object correspondingin size and shape to a code area, means actuated by the register forselectively blocking sections of the object corresponding to thecombination of the code area of a si le selected character, a singlephotoelectric device to receive 4 light passing through the transparentsub-areas,

a support for a sensitized surface, means actuated by the photoelectricdevice to project the codeselected character on to the sensitizedsurface, and spacing means actuated by the register for moving thesupport by a distance corresponding to the width of the selectedcharacter.

4. In photographic type composing apparatus, the combination of aregister for storing coded information corresponding to selectedcharacters in a line of Written matter, each character being representedby combinations of a number of code elements divided into a grouprepresenting the width and a group for distinguishing said characterfrom characters of like width, a rigid character carrier, continuouslyrotatable in one direction and bearing characters of variable width tobe photographed and corresponding code areas, each code area comprisinga representative combination of transparent and opaque sub-areascorresponding to the code elements of the register, a fixed illuminatedobject, means for focusing on the character carrier a stationary imageof said object corresponding in size and shape to a code area, meansactuated by the register for selectively blocking sections of the objectcorresponding to the combination of the code area of a single selectedcharacter, a single photoelectric device to receive light passingthrough the transparent sub-areas, a support for the sensitized surface,means actuated by the photoelectric device to project the code-selectedcharacter on to the sensitized surface, and spacing means actuated bythe group of code elements of the register representing the width formoving the support by a distance corresponding to the width of theselected character.

5. In photographic type composing apparatus, the combination of a rigidcharacter carrier, continuously rotatable in one direction and bearingthe characters to be photographed and corresponding code areas, eachcode area comprising a representative combination of transparent andopaque sub-areas and having an edge in precise spatial relation to apoint in a corresponding character, a fixed illuminated object, meansfor focusing on the character carrier a stationary image of said objectcorresponding substantially in size and shape to a code area and havingan edge in position to become coincident with said edges of each of thecode areas successively, means for selectively blocking sections of theobject corresponding to the combination of sub-areas representing asingle selected character, a single photoelectric device to receivelight passing through the transparent sub-areas, and projection meansactuated by the photoelectric device to project the code-selectedcharacter on to a sensitized surface, said projection means including anintermittent flash device and an optical system having an axis passingthrough the paths of said points in the characters.

6. In photographic type composing apparatus, the combination of a rigidcharacter carrier, continuously rotatable in one direction and bearingthe characters to be photographed and corresponding code areas, eachcode area comprising a representative combination of transparent andopaque sub-areas and having an edge in precise spatial relation to apoint in a corresponding character, a fixed illuminated object, meansfor focusing on the character carrier a stationary image of said objectcorresponding substantially in size and shape to a code area and havingan edge in position to become coincident with said edges of each of thecode areas successively, means for selectively blocking sections of theobject corresponding to the combination of subareas representing asingle selected character, a single photoelectric device to receivelight passing through the transparent sub-areas, and projection meansactuated by the photoelectric device to project the code-selectedcharacter on to a sensitized surface, said projection means in cludingan intermittent flash device and focusing means in position to cause aside and bottom edge of the selected character to fall on perpendicularlines intersecting in the optical axis at the precise instant ofprojection.

7. In photographic type composing apparatus, the combination of a rigidcharacter carrier, continuously rotatable in one direction and bearingthe characters to be photographed and corresponding code areas, eachcode area comprising a representative combination of transparent andopaque sub-areas and having an edge in precise spatial relation to apoint in a corresponding character, the number of opaque sub-areas percode area increasing or remaining constant for code areas successivelypassing through a given position, a fixed illuminated object, mean forfocusing on the character carrier a stationary image of said objectcorresponding substantially in size and shape to a code area and havingan edge in position to become coincident with said edges of each of thecode areas successively, means for selectively blocking sections of theobject corresponding to the combination of subareas representing asingle selected character, a single photoelectric device to receivelight passing through the transparent sub-areas, and projection meansactuated by the photoelectric device at the first occurrence ofsubstantial absence of light on the photoelectric device to project thecode-selected character on to a sensitized surface.

RENE HIGONNET. LOUIS MOYROUD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,211,320 Efron Aug. 13, 1940 2,228,782 Sharples Jan. 14, 19412,251,998 Goodale Aug. 12, 1941 2,257,763 Petterson Oct. 7, 19412,346,251 Bryce Apr. 11, 1944 2,475,497 Harrold et al July 5, 19492,482,242 Brustman Sept. 20, 1949 2,524,926 Peery Oct. 10, 1950 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 200,532 Great Britain July 10, 1923

